Photo Gallery: 22 images

Harvard alumni begin lobbying to create a railroading school

Harvard alumni begin lobbying President Charles Eliot to create a railroading school

President Eliot contemplates creating a new school

President Eliot contemplates creating a school in "diplomacy and government service"

President Eliot is forced to terminate the failing Harvard School of Veterinary Medicine

President Eliot is forced to terminate the failing Harvard School of Veterinary Medicine, which he had launched in 1882

Harvard Corporation votes to establish HBS

Harvard Corporation votes to establish HBS to teach business on a graduate level only, with a five-year experimental authorization under the wing of the Department of Economics; each word of the School's name ("Graduate School of Business Administration") is carefully chosen by Harvard President Charles Eliot and Government Professor (and future Harvard President) A. Lawrence Lowell.

Three rooms in University Hall are set aside for the HBS dean's use

Three rooms in University Hall are set aside for the HBS dean's use

President Eliot resigns in May; is succeeded by A. Lawrence Lowell

President Eliot resigns in May; is succeeded by A. Lawrence Lowell

Visiting Committee meets for first time

Visiting Committee meets for first time; discusses "desirable characteristics for young men entering business"

First MBA degress awarded

Eight students receive first "MBA" degrees awarded by Harvard. The MBA is the first degree conferred in English, rather than Latin.

HBS's "Dept. of Public Business" is transferred to Harvard's new "Dept. of Government"

HBS's "Dept. of Public Business" is transferred to Harvard's new "Dept. of Government"

Gay's proposal for a $1 million endowment drive is turned down by President Lowell as impractical

Gay's proposal for a $1 million endowment drive is turned down by President Lowell as impractical

HBS permanently established

Harvard's President Lowell, in his annual report to the University's governing boards, writes that HBS has "proved its value" and deserves to be made permanent.

HBS becomes a permanant, independent entity within Harvard

Harvard Corporation extends HBS's authorization indefinitely, and the School gains administrative autonomy from the Department of Economics.

Gay proposes to suspend HBS operations; Lowell says "no"

Gay proposes to suspend HBS operations; Lowell says "no"

Six Radcliffe women petition to take HBS courses related to war effort; faculty votes "no"

Six Radcliffe women petition to take HBS courses related to war effort; faculty votes "no"

Radcliffe graduate Elizabeth W. Wilson petitions to study life insurance at HBS; faculty votes "no"

Radcliffe graduate Elizabeth W. Wilson petitions to study life insurance at HBS; faculty votes "no"

Corporation approves five-year "joint program" of HBS and Engineering School

Corporation approves five-year "joint program" of HBS and Engineering School

Harvard (and HBS) tuition increases from $200 to $250

Harvard (and HBS) tuition increases from $200 to $250: HBS still "loses" $150 per student

Boston merchant Louis E. Kirstein joins HBS Visiting Committee

Boston merchant Louis E. Kirstein joins HBS Visiting Committee; remains on it until his death in 1942

Donham approaches Bishop William Lawrence for fundraising help

Donham approaches Bishop William Lawrence for fundraising help

Harvard Corporation approves Donham's plan for a combined HBS, Chemistry, and Fine Arts campaign

Harvard Corporation approves Dean Donham's plan for a combined HBS, Chemistry, and Fine Arts fundraising campaign, including $5 million to build an HBS campus in Allston.

Harvard Fatigue Laboratory established

The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, which brings together researchers from multiple disciplines to study physical aspects of work, is established at HBS.

Harvard and Yale Corporations approve joint Harvard-Yale business/law program

Harvard and Yale Corporations approve joint Harvard-Yale business/law program

Harvard president A. Lawrence Lowell retires

President A. Lawrence Lowell retires, ending his three decades of support for HBS

First students in joint Harvard-Yale business/law program enroll

First students in joint Harvard-Yale business/law program enroll

Transportation professor George Roorbach dies unexpectedly; Harvard economics instructor George P. Baker agrees to fill in

Transportation professor George Roorbach dies unexpectedly; Harvard economics instructor George P. Baker agrees to fill in

Harvard establishes the "Training Course in Personnel Administration" for Radcliffe women

Harvard establishes the "Training Course in Personnel Administration" for Radcliffe women

In report to President, Donham discusses the "character of the School's research program"

In report to President, Donham discusses the "character of the School's research program," which combines theory and facts

Harvard University Trade Union Program is launched as 9-month

Harvard University Trade Union Program, under direction of Professor Sumner H. Slichter, is launched as 9-month program by HBS, the Littauer School, and Department of Economics

HBS works with School of Public Administration and Department of Economics to establish Trade Union Fellowships program

HBS works with School of Public Administration and Department of Economics to establish Trade Union Fellowships program

Radcliffe College offers "Management Training Program" for women

Radcliffe College offers "Management Training Program" for women

School operates at a deficit of $42,500, which Harvard covers (and which HBS repays in 1952)

School operates at a deficit of $42,500, which Harvard covers (and which HBS repays in 1952)

Harvard authorizes HBS and Dean David to seek $20 million in new funds

Harvard authorizes HBS and Dean David to seek $20 million in new funds

With Harvard's permission, David describes a "Twenty Million Dollar Program" to build School's endowment

With Harvard's permission, David describes a "Twenty Million Dollar Program" to build School's endowment

MBA degrees are awarded to 86 "certificate" holders who have completed MBA program but don't hold college degrees

With Harvard's permission, and "in the interest of consistency and goodwill," MBA degrees are awarded to 86 "certificate" holders who have completed MBA program but don't hold college degrees

HBS enters into its first formal overseas relationship

With Ford Foundation funding and with Harvard's blessing, HBS enters into its first formal overseas relationship: with the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Istanbul, Turkey.

Management Training Program offered at Radcliffe

The faculty votes to join Radcliffe College in offering a one-year "Management Training Program" for women at Radcliffe.

HBS and Radcliffe formalize their working arrangement in the "Management Training Program" for women

HBS and Radcliffe formalize their working arrangement in the "Management Training Program" for women

HBS receives grant from Ford Foundation in support of two research professorships

HBS receives $2 million grant from Ford Foundation in support of two research professorships, later renamed the Thomas Carroll Ford Foundation and Edsel Ford Professorships; Samuel Stouffer (of Harvard's Department of Social Relations) and Bertrand Fox are named first incumbents

First women graduate from HBS

Three women graduates of the Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration are admitted to 2nd year of MBA program; they become first women to receive HBS MBAs (in 1960)

Fritz Roethlisberger wins Harvard's George Ledlie Prize

Fritz Roethlisberger wins Harvard's George Ledlie Prize

Faculty votes to accept women

The faculty votes to accept women (creating a separate "pool" for female applicants); the Harvard-Radcliffe program is discontinued, and (in 1963) eight women are admitted as members of first-year class.

Ray Vernon begins 4-year term as first director of Harvard's Development Advisory Service

Ray Vernon begins 4-year term as first director of Harvard's Development Advisory Service

Visiting Committee membership is changed from indefinite to a six-year rotation

Visiting Committee membership is changed from indefinite to a six-year rotation

Gund Professorship of Economics and Business Administration is established

Gund Professorship of Economics and Business Administration, honoring banker George Gund and linking HBS and Harvard College, is established

HBS receives a "very large grant" from IBM to support a 10-year, Harvard-wide program on technological advances and social change

HBS receives a "very large grant" from IBM to support a 10-year, Harvard-wide program on technological advances and social change

Stepehen Greyser and Thomas Raymond initiate "Institute in Arts Administration

Stepehen Greyser and Thomas Raymond initiate "Institute in Arts Administration," in collaboration with Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

HBS enters into a time-sharing relationship with Harvard's Computation Center and other Harvard entities

HBS enters into a time-sharing relationship with Harvard's Computation Center and other Harvard entities; goal is to have 18 remote computer terminals at HBS by January 2007, and 32 within several more months

Howard Raiffa is first incumbent of Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professorship of Managerial Economics chair

The Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professorship of Managerial Economics -- a joint HBS/Department of Economics chair -- is created; Howard Raiffa is named first incumbent

HBS and Harvard Law School establish the JD/MBA program

HBS and Harvard Law School establish the JD/MBA program: the School's first joint-degree program.

John Bishop is appointed first director of Harvard's Office of Information Technology

John Bishop is appointed first director of Harvard's Office of Information Technology; spends 2 years helping structure IT at Harvard

Student unrest spreads across Harvard campus in spring, including HBS, but HBS students vote not to support a strike

Student unrest spreads across Harvard campus in spring, including HBS, but HBS students vote not to support a strike

'Citizen of the University' VIDEO: RT: 03:03

Interview clip with HBS Dean Jay Light who speaks on viewing himself as a 'citizen of the university' through his involvement in Harvard-wide affairs, such as his leading role in the creation of the Harvard Management Corporation on the behest of the Harvard Corporation and President Derek Bok, with whom he formed a close working association.

Robert Austin heads Harvard-wide committee to study the University's relations with "corporate enterprise"

Robert Austin heads Harvard-wide committee to study the University's relations with "corporate enterprise"

Chris Christensen inaugurates teaching seminar for HBS doctoral students

Chris Christensen inaugurates teaching seminar for HBS doctoral students; subsequently includes instructors from other Harvard departments and other universities

Keith Butters chairs University-wide committee to help restructure faculty retirement package

Keith Butters chairs University-wide committee to help restructure faculty retirement package

The Academic Path to HBS VIDEO: RT: 03:14

Interview clip with HBS Dean Kim Clark, who retraces his journey to an academic vocation via the counsel of a professorial uncle at Brigham Young University. Through his undergraduate and doctoral programs at the Harvard University Department of Economics, he was vitally influenced by Prof. Alexander Gerschenkron, Prof. Edward Leamer, and Prof. Elisabeth Allison, who introduced him to Prof. John Dunlop. He ascribes his arrival at HBS through the encouragement of Prof. Dunlop, and his immediate connection with a group of the faculty engaged in research on technological questions.

Thomas Raymond begins teaching Business in American Life at Harvard College

Thomas Raymond begins teaching Business in American Life at Harvard College, introducing undergraduates to business

John Matthews and Divinity School's Preston Williams begin teaching Ethical Aspects of Corporate Policy elective

John Matthews and Divinity School's Preston Williams begin teaching Ethical Aspects of Corporate Policy elective

President Bok issues report to Overseers focused on HBS

President Bok issues report to Overseers focused on HBS

Board of Directors of Associates publishes "The Success of a Strategy," in response to President Bok's report on HBS

Board of Directors of Associates publishes "The Success of a Strategy," in response to President Bok's report on HBS

Joint Ph.D. programs established with Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences

The HBS faculty and Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences vote to establish new joint Ph.D.s in organizational behavior and decision sciences.

Faculty votes to establish joint Ph.D. program in decision sciences

Faculty votes to establish joint Ph.D. program in decision sciences

Influential Women Role Models VIDEO: RT: 02:44

Interview clip with Gwill York, MBA 1984, on the formative impact of her women teachers at the all-girls Laurel School, who instilled a love of learning and will to achieve in her, and Dr. Betty J. Diener, for whom she worked one summer and who stood as an exemplar for her as one of the first women to earn a HBS DBA and the first woman to enter the New York Harvard Club.

Michael Spence is named dean of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Michael Spence is named dean of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Harvard celebrates its 350th anniversary

Harvard celebrates its 350th anniversary

Lodge and Vogel host colloquium on comparative ideology

George Lodge and Ezra Vogel (of Harvard's Sociology department) host colloquium on comparative ideology

HBS participates in newly established University-wide Program in Ethics and the Professions

HBS participates in newly established University-wide Program in Ethics and the Professions

The Path to HBS and the HBS Experience VIDEO: RT: 01:35

Interview clip with Teresa Clarke, MBA 1988, who narrates the development of her business interests as an economics student at Harvard and highlights the professors who strongly influenced her, Kash Rangan, Linda Hill, and especially Bill Poorvu, because of his balanced life of intellectual and entrepreneurial endeavors and their mutual interest in real estate.

Neil Rudenstine is installed as Harvard's 26th president

Neil Rudenstine is installed as Harvard's 26th president

HBS Publishing is created

HBS Publishing is created as wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University

Kathleen Murray Story VIDEO: RT: 04:07

Story regarding how she accords a prominent position to her membership in the HBS community among her multiple life affiliations. She devotes a great amount of time and energy to her HBS alumni network and responsibilities, including serving as AMP class secretary and working with various HBS and Harvard organizations. The lifelong intellectual stimulation, learning, and friendships from her Advanced Management Program experience continually reinvigorate her connection to the School. She has even transmitted that commitment to her nephew, whom she persuaded to select HBS from among the business schools to which he was accepted.

Randy Fine Story VIDEO: RT: 04:15

Story regarding his proceeding directly from Harvard College to HBS and the entirely new world he found across the Charles River. His classmates challenged him as a young student with little business training, but this spurred him to catch up. He found the case method better suited to his learning style than the paper writing and textbook approach. His HBS education has opened up entrepreneurial opportunities for him and he is grateful to HBS for taking a chance on a young person from Kentucky.

Michael Porter named a University Professor

Competition and strategy expert Michael Porter is named a "University Professor" (Harvard's highest academic honor) by President Neil Rudenstine.

Harvard announces plans for major expansion into Allston neighborhood adjacent to HBS

Harvard announces plans for major expansion into Allston neighborhood adjacent to HBS

HBS and Harvard Medical School launch joint degree program

HBS and Harvard Medical School launched a 5 year, joint degree program in 2005. Special seminars are taught at both the business school and at the medical school

HBS and Kennedy School of Government inaugurate integrated joint degree program

HBS and Kennedy School of Government inaugurate integrated joint degree program

Johnita Mizelle Story VIDEO: 6 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encompassing leadership opportunities (serving as chair of the Financial Club Conference, and CFO of the Entrepreneurship Club) and what she learned from teaching and mentoring Harvard College sophomores with Wall Street aspirations. Being the first person in her family to attend Harvard is a meaningful achievement.

Aman Khaira Story VIDEO: RT: 08:01

Story regarding his realization of the power of the case method when he experienced a transformational moment during a classroom discussion. While studying the lives and careers of HBS graduates from two decades earlier, many of his classmates were moved to voice their own fears and apprehensions that elicited an understanding of a personal situation in his past. Through the case method, he has absorbed communications skills to advance and expedite discussions and meetings. He has been astonished by the faculty's overwhelming personal attention, which has been exemplified by Prof. Jan Rivkin's assistance with securing summer jobs for his entire section during the current financial crisis and the entire Harvard system's immediate response.

Andrew Styperek Story VIDEO: RT: 07:55

Story regarding his vision of combining his medical and business educations to exert an impact on society and the enrichment of the educational process from his classmates' inputs. Born into a family of physicians, his expression of interest in the business world diverted somewhat from that line, but he feels his plan to weld the two disciplines together will yield the most effective results. As a graduate of Harvard College, he is pleased to take part in the same diversity of students and viewpoints, which is a hallmark of the university tradition. He has learned a great deal from disagreements with classmates and the case analysis of business mistakes and failures. Equipped with his medical and business knowledge, he will be prepared to bring about major change in the world.

Courtney Bass Story VIDEO: RT: 07:58

Story regarding how her voyage to HBS was started by her mother and her long-term aim is to devote her HBS education to the service of bettering the lives of others. Her mother, Paula Sneed MBA 1977, always expected she would join the Harvard community, and she attained that goal by graduating from Harvard College in 2003. While pondering the next stage in her life, she determined that she desired to have an impact on the world on a grand scale, and the School's prominence in nurturing leaders was the deciding factor for her. She is gratified by the School's commitment to diversity and celebrating diversity, and she will go out into the world to work to open minds as hers has been at HBS. She believes that her mother and she are one of the first African American mother-daughter couples at HBS. Her mother's accomplishments as a business leader and ethical leader who has achieved "results and goodness at the same time" stand as a profound inspiration for her.

Steve Alden Story VIDEO: RT: 05:52

Story regarding his learning about Harvard University and its various programs and his route through accounting to HBS. Growing up in Massachusetts, he heard throughout his youth about Harvard and so he faced a difficult decision when he was accepted there and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. With his commercial interests, he selected the latter's business program. As a senior, he found about the 2+2 Program, whereby students are reserved a slot at HBS and then spend two years gaining work experience. With the aid of HBS alumni, he crafted his application and was admitted. During the two years he worked as an accountant and earned his CPA. Quickly overcoming his concerns about fitting in with his classmates, the supportive milieu and community spirit of his section and the School will be the foundation for his energy and excitement over the next two years.

Yinan Du Story VIDEO: RT: 07:08

Story regarding his first impressions of HBS through the Harvard University reputation, his adjustment to and total engagement with the case method, and his entrepreneurial pursuits. Growing up China, he became acquainted with the Harvard name and observed the respect accorded to those who attend the University. The transition from the lecture style of instruction to the case method was challenging until he fully understood the model of students learning from each other with the professor as guide and leader. He finds the additional types of teaching modes at HBS to be complementary to the case method, such as the Best Reflected Self exercise in his Leadership and Organizational Behavior course. His original goal of coming to HBS was to develop his entrepreneurial acumen and so he has availed himself of the School's numerous resources, the faculty's guidance, and his classmates' knowledge and expertise.

Don Lippincott Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding his experience working in the MBA Program department for over 7 years, with note of his previous employment at Harvard University.

Pat Light Story VIDEO: 08:32

Story regarding her thirty plus years at MBA Support Services working with students to ensure the best possible HBS experience for them. She narrates a story of helping a student's brother after the tragedy of September 11th. She describes the School's "culture of support" and how Harvard and HBS are "in her blood."